As they made their way deeper into the dome, the scenery began to shift. Some buildings started cropping up along the stone-paved road— basic, sturdy buildings with a square-shaped design. More recruits filtered in from different directions, all wearing the same absent-minded expression, clearly still trying to process what they'd been thrown into.
"Keep going down this road," the soldier ordered Zephyr, branching off to another path between some buildings with the blonde-haired kid in tow. As they separated, the kid threw one last glare at Zephyr before following the soldier.
Zephyr sighed under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck, "I hope I don't have to deal with this all through my stay here."
After walking for a bit, he ended up in a vast open space ringed by buildings where the rest of the recruits were starting to trickle in.
At the front of the clearing, a man with a towering build stood with his hands folded behind his back. His presence alone was enough to make most of the recruits stiffen. He had a menacing scar that went right down the left side of his face, disappearing under the edge of the eyepatch that covered his left eye.
Unlike their first time, there was no chatter, the air was thick with the weight of what they'd just survived. Most of them were hollow-eyed after their near-death experience. They never thought they'd be thrown into such a situation so fast and without any preparation.
Zephyr stood at the back of the line, scanning the faces of everyone in the clearing. Their numbers were noticeably smaller, most of them— like that blonde-haired kid— had likely been injured and were getting treated.
"I really should get his name..." Zephyr thought.
He spotted the giant kid as he looked around; he seemed fine. The red-haired girl was also standing near the front, looking on passively with her arms crossed.
Nearly all the kids from rich merchant families were present too, in their usual position at the front of the line.
They all waited in silence as their numbers increased slowly. The injured people also began to trickle in too, fully healed and rejuvenated.
Zephyr spotted Blondie as he walked into the clearing. His eyes scanned around before locking onto Zephyr.
'Shit!' Zephyr cursed silently, keeping his expression neutral.
'Please don't come here! Just find somewhere else.'
'Fuck, he's coming here. What's up with this kid?!'
Blondie walked up and stood in the line next to Zephyr like they were old friends.
Zephyr offered a stiff smile as he tried to be civil, "Hey—"
"Who are you?!" Blondie snapped with a haughty tone.
"—What?"
"You heard me," Blondie retorted, his chin tilted slightly upward.
"... Are you broken?" Zephyr asked in genuine concern.
His face began to contort as he made to give a snarky response, but he was cut off as the man at the front spoke.
"Good. It seems you're all here." He said with a booming voice.
"How'd you like your grand welcome?" He asked with a smirk as he scanned their faces.
"I'm sure you must have figured it out by now. This is hell! No one here is going to hold your hand, and no one's coming to save you! You're on your own. The sooner you get that through your heads the better." He walked across the front of the line, meeting each one of their gazes.
"You are now potential soldiers of the Great Kingdom of Morva! In direct service to the House Ryvelin!"
"You may have come in here thinking you can just coast through and be done with it, but as you have seen, that is not going to fly!"
"For the next six months, your life is no longer your own. You eat when we say eat. You sleep when we say sleep. You move, you fight, and even breathe when we tell you to!"
He paused to let that sink in for a moment.
"You'll be broken down, stripped of every useless habit and weakness you walked in here with. You'll learn to endure. You'll learn to follow orders without question. Above all, you'll learn that when it comes down to it, your strength alone is what matters."
"And if you're lucky... well... who knows maybe you'll turn out to be something worthy of standing under House Ryvelin's banner."
"..."
"Welcome to the military." He ended.
Another soldier stepped forward with a scroll, which he unrolled with practiced ease.
"Alright, now listen up. This is your new daily life!"
"Every morning, you wake at five sharp. No matter what, you must be on your feet by then!"
"You'll report to this training ground for a jog, after which you'll receive basic combat training."
"Then breakfast comes after that. From there, it's on to lessons in the theory of magic, mana core nodes, and spell models. That goes on till noon."
"After that, you get lunch and a short break. From there then it's on to practical mana training. You'll learn casting structure and spell execution. We're gonna shape you all into capable mages."
"After that, you move to weapons training or any other craft you want to pick up. This part is voluntary. Then it's on to supper in the mess hall, lights out, repeat."
A low murmur of trepidation rippled through the ranks of the recruits.
"Quiet!" the soldier shouted before continuing.
"At the end of every week, there's a practical test outside the dome. Where we get to see how much of what you've learned you can put into action."
"Now, listen close, apart from your basic necessities, everything here runs on merit points. You need extra knowledge? Merit points, Rare spell models? Merit points, Books on insights into mana usage? Merit points, Access to special weapons and artifacts... You can get them all with Merit points."
"Every one of you starts out with ten points—except for those of you who got injured. Your treatment cost you, you're down to six points."
Gasps of disbelief rose from the crowd.
"What?!—"
"That's not fair!—"
"So we're now at a disadvantage—"
"SILENCE!" The commander boomed from behind the soldier, cutting through the noise like a blade.
"What? You think we're here to pamper you?! Nothing is for free here, you have to pay a price for anything you get!"
"Everyone gets one point at the end of each week, just for following orders and surviving. Extra points can be earned by displaying outstanding results, especially at the end of the week test."
"At the end of your six months of training, the top ten with the most points will be recommended for a better position for the rest six months of real combat duty." A real chance to climb up the ladder and earn wealth and glory! Maybe even a seat at a noble house... if you're lucky... or good enough."
"Any questions?!" He asked, scanning the line.
The black-haired boy at the front raised his hand.
"Speak."
"Can we exchange points amongst ourselves?"
"No!" The soldier answered flatly. "Point exchange is strictly forbidden. You are to earn them with your efforts alone," he said.
"Anyone else?" The commander took over as he stepped forward.
...
"Good."
"You are to go to your dorms and get yourselves settled in. Your training starts tomorrow."
"Dismissed."